Ben Affleck

Actor, writer and director Ben Affleck hit the Hollywood radar in 1997 as the co-writer and co-star of "Good Will Hunting," earning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with childhood best frie...
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Stars Turn Out for National Board of Review Awards

By:
WENN.com
Jan 16, 2008

Hollywood stars George Clooney, Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner were among the stars in attendance at the coveted National Board of Review of Motion Picture awards on Tuesday night, despite the ongoing writers strike.
The winners, including the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men for Best Film, were announced in early December, but the official awards gala was held in New York on Tuesday.
And the show escaped the fate of the Golden Globes and People's Choice Awards, which had to be cancelled after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) members threatened to picket the events.
Clooney was on hand to pick up his prize for Best Actor for Michael Clayton, while Affleck collected his gong for Best Directorial Debut for Gone Baby Gone.
It was a family affair for the Affleck clan--in addition to Garner's presence, Ben's younger brother Casey also attended the prize-giving, where he received the Best Supporting Actor award for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Young stars Ellen Page and Emile Hirsch also took advantage of the awards show, which is likely to be one of the few ceremonies this year to be unaffected by the WGA strike. They both won in the Breakthrough Performance categories--Page for Juno and Hirsch for Into the Wild.
The National Board of Review honors are traditionally considered the first major indication of who will lead at the Academy Awards.
COPYRIGHT 2008 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Ethan and Joel Coen's movie No Country for Old Men has triumphed at the 2008 Critics' Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
The film landed the coveted Best Picture award as well as the Best Supporting Actor accolade for Javier Bardem at the ceremony on Monday night.
The awards, which are given out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, are not covered by Writers Guild contracts so were not affected by the ongoing strike that has forced other events, including the prestigious Golden Globe Awards, to be cancelled.
Other winners at the ceremony include Daniel Day-Lewis, who picked up the Best Actor gong for his role in There Will Be Blood, and Julie Christie, who won Best Actress for Away from Her.
Amy Ryan was honored as Best Supporting Actress for Gone Baby Gone--Ben Affleck's directorial debut--and teen pregnancy movie Juno was named Best Comedy.
Hairspray was also among the big winners of the night, scooping two awards for Best Acting Ensemble and Best Young Actress for its 19-year-old star Nikki Blonsky.
George Clooney, who was nominated for his starring turn in Michael Clayton, presented the inaugural Joel Siegel Award to his Ocean's 13 co-star Don Cheadle for his humanitarian work--and he used the opportunity to call for a resolution to the writers strike.
He told the audience, "When the strike happens, it's not just writers (affected). Our hope is that all the players will lock themselves in a room and not come out until they finish. We want this to be done. That's the most important thing."
The main-category winners are as follows:
Best Picture
No Country for Old Men
Best Comedy
Juno
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best Acting Ensemble
Hairspray
Best Young Actor
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, The Kite Runner
Best Young Actress
Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray
Best Director
Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Writer
Diablo Cody, Juno
Best Composer
Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood
Best Song
"Falling Slowly," Glen Hansard &amp; Marketa Irglova, Once
Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Animated Feature
Ratatouille
Best Family Film
Enchanted
Best Documentary
Sicko
Best Picture Made for Television
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Actress Jennifer Garner has been named as the 2007 West Virginian of the Year by her hometown newspaper.
The Alias star was given the accolade by the Sunday Gazette-Mail honoring her dedication, hard work and services as an ambassador and role model for the
state.
Garner was born in Texas but moved to Princeton, West Virginia, when she was four years old and considers the region to be her home.
The 35-year-old now lives in Los Angeles with her husband Ben Affleck and their 2-year-old daughter Violet. The family is currently renting an apartment in New York while Garner stars in Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway.
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Adapted from a story by Mystic River author Dennis Lehane Gone Baby Gone refers to the disappearance of children. It’s a grim story though one of redemption and is quite intricate. The story follows a pair of Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) as they go looking for a local 4-year-old girl who has been abducted. Patrick and Angie are hired by the family to help the police find her—before it’s too late. There’s also brooding detective Remy (Ed Harris) and inveterate police captain Doyle (Morgan Freeman) who don’t take kindly to the P.I.s meddling. But it seems the girl’s drug-addicted mother Helene (Amy Ryan) has inadvertently put her daughter in some serious danger. Numerous shady characters burrow up to lend guidance and a nasty environment putting a face on Boston’s criminal underbelly. But Patrick is determined to find this little girl—and when a money-drop for the kidnapped tot goes awry he won’t let it go. And that is his downfall. Casey Affleck gives a truly memorable performance. His calm demeanor almost shocks at times when it seems his feathers should presumably be more ruffled. He speaks in even tones without emotion even as a hardened street detective with community roots. Casey’s ease conveys naturalism but is possibly too light to carry the movie’s intrigue and heaviness. Michelle Monaghan delivers a pivotal sobering turn as Casey's partner and girlfriend after playing sweet with Ben Stiller in The Heartbreak Kid. Her Angie is a co-equal who adds ideas and emotional balance. Amy Ryan a Tony-winning stage actress is a fun mess as Helene stuck in a nasty substance abuse pattern. Helene is so unlikeable in fact even the criminals think she doesn’t deserve her daughter. Ed Harris adds another intense role to his resume as a flawed detective who we don’t completely trust invoking the same rage he displayed in his shivering turn in A History of Violence. Morgan Freeman’s movie career built on dignified wise roles is subverted here—and he plays it pitch perfect. And John Ashton (Beverly Hills Cop's Detective Taggert) does a nice turn as Remy’s hardened partner. As a first-time director Ben Affleck does an admirable job. Much of Gone Baby Gone’s charm comes from the director’s ties to his hometown. He captures a certain vibe from Boston’s seedy side much like The Departed did. The Dorchester neighborhood setting adds to the blue-collar grit sometimes seeming oddly aloof and plastic. Moody scenes move quickly almost too confidently. It flits around kinetically during some action sequences but then lapses into old-school dreariness creating a weird music-video pace including a Silence of the Lambs-like psychedelic murder sequence. But it’s the script co-written by Ben that really gets you. Gone Baby Gone fixates on some underwhelming dialogue (mostly involving Casey Affleck)--but then the film really packs a one-two punch at the end. It will leave you reeling. Ben may have finally found his niche.

The parents of a missing British child have thanked Ben Affleck for postponing the release of his new movie, which is about the same subject.
Gone Baby Gone was shelved in the U.K. after Madeleine McCann, 4, went missing from a vacation resort in Portugal in May.
The movie was directed by Affleck and stars his brother Casey as a private detective searching for a missing 4-year-old girl.
Gerry and Kate McCann have issued a statement through their spokesman--thanking Affleck.
It reads, "We thank him for being thoughtful enough and sensitive enough to Gerry and Kate's position to make such a commercial decision.
"Obviously, we hope Madeleine will be found very soon to enable Kate and Gerry to move on, but also to enable him and the movie to go ahead in due course."
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Actress Jennifer Garner has vowed never to star in a movie directed by husband Ben Affleck--because she does not want to neglect their daughter.
The Alias star, 35, would prefer to look after the couple's daughter, Violet, 1, while Affleck goes to work.
She says, "I don't think I would ever star in a movie that Ben directed because somebody has to raise the kids, but he'd better eventually find a little something for me or he'll pay for it!"
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Dating Jennifer Lopez was bad for Ben Affleck's career, according to the Hollywood star himself.
Affleck and Lopez's romance hit the headlines between 2002 and 2004, and the couple was engaged when they split.
Both blamed excessive tabloid coverage for the separation.
And Affleck, who now has a daughter with girlfriend Jennifer Garner, believes the unwanted media attention surrounding his romance with Lopez resulted in studio executives taking him less seriously in Hollywood.
He tells Details magazine, "It was probably bad for my career. What happens is, this sort of bleeds over from the tabloids across your movie work.
"You go to a movie, you only go once. But the tabloids and Internet are everywhere. You can really subsume the public image of somebody.
"I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and (the media) mostly lied and inflated a bunch of salacious stuff for the sake of selling magazines. And I paid a certain price for that."
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Jennifer Garner has signed up to play Matthew McConaughey’s ghostly girlfriend in a new film that was originally scheduled to star her husband Ben Affleck.
Affleck pulled out of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past to concentrate on his directing career and McConaughey took over. Garner will play a girlfriend who comes back to haunt McConaughey's character at a wedding.
It's the second role McConaughey has taken on as a replacement to another actor in recent weeks--he'll take over troubled Owen Wilson's role in Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder.
Wilson was forced to pull out of the project after allegedly attempting suicide last month.
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Ben Affleck's new movie Gone, Baby, Gone may be pulled from British screens following the case of missing British tot Madeleine McCann.
The actor's directorial debut is due for release in November, but now may not be released in U.K. cinemas following the disappearance of McCann.
Affleck admits the film bears striking similarities to the case and is preparing to take the appropriate steps to prevent the film being shown to U.K. audiences.
He says, "We are acutely aware of the situation. We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life or death.
"I'm not up to date on the details and it is not something that has taken off in the United States like it has in the U.K. It is only when someone said there was this case that was very similar to my film we looked it up.
"We don't want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."
Four-year-old Madeleine went missing during a family vacation in Portugal on May 3.
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Re-teamed with director Kevin Smith for "Dogma"; also re-teamed with Damon to play a pair of renegade angels

Starred as a lonely guy who rents himself a family for the holidays in the comedy "Surviving Christmas"

TV miniseries debut, "Hands of a Stranger" (NBC)

Featured in Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder"

Directorial and writing debut, the feature adaptation of "Gone, Baby, Gone"; film based on the book by Mystic River author Dennis Lehane and starring his brother Casey Affleck

Charmed critics and audiences as a comic book artist who falls for a bisexual woman in Kevin Smith's "Chasing Amy"

Co-starred in the Michael Bay blockbuster "Armageddon"

Played a white-collar corporate employee who loses his job in John Wells' directing debut "The Company Men"

Cast as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the blockbuster "Daredevil," based on the Marvel comic book character

Portrayed the 1950s "Superman" TV star George Reeves in "Hollywoodland"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Directed short film "I Murdered My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meathook and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney"

Assumed the role of Jack Ryan (previously played by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford) in "The Sum of All Fears"

Sold his script "Good Will Hunting" to Miramax; co-written with Matt Damon; filmed and released in 1997 with both co-starring

Executive produced horror film "Feast," a result of the third season of the Project Greenlight contest

Appeared in PBS documentary series "The Voyage of the Mimi"

Made a brief appearance in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"; reprised role of Holden from "Chasing Amy" as well as appeared as himself

Summary

Actor, writer and director Ben Affleck hit the Hollywood radar in 1997 as the co-writer and co-star of "Good Will Hunting," earning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with childhood best friend Matt Damon. In fact, the seemingly overnight ascent to stardom in tandem with Damon became one of the great "Hollywood" stories" of all time - rivaling Lana Turner being discovered at Schwab's Drugstore. Flying past the more understated Damon in terms of initial popularity and box office, the handsome, chiseled Affleck went on to achieve box office gold in uneven blockbusters like "Armageddon" (1998), "Pearl Harbor" (2001) and "Daredevil" (2003), as well as quirky Kevin Smith comedies "Chasing Amy" (1997) and "Dogma" (1999). But it was his extracurricular activities - dating famous actresses and ending up in rehab - that made him a magnet for media attention. His overexposed romance with actress-singer Jennifer Lopez - collectively known as "Bennifer" - and a string of flops threatened to banish Affleck to B-film status until concerted efforts to reclaim his private life and his celebrated directorial debut "Gone Baby Gone" (2007) and his subsequent efforts "The Town" (2010) and the Oscar-winning "Argo" (2012) proved that perhaps Affleck's most underused talent was his ability to write his own happy ending.

Met while filming "Gigli" (2003); Reportedly seen kissing during her surprise birthday party in July 2002; went public with relationship in August 2002; Announced engagement in November 2002; Wedding date was rumored to be Sept. 14, 2003; wedding postponed until a later date, reason was "excessive media attention"; Reps for the couple confirmed their split in January 2004

Began dating December 1997; Co-starred in "Shakespeare in Love" (1998); Reportedly split December 1998; Co-starred in "Bounce" (2000), fueling speculation they reconciled; No longer together

Cheyenne Rothman

Companion

Had an on-again, off-again relationship begining in high school; Split in the fall of 1997

Enza Sambataro

Companion

Met at a fundraiser in a Boston bowling alley; Briefly dated in 2004

Education

Name

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School

University of Vermont

Occidental College

Notes

"I'm just happy not to be holding up convenience stores." – Affleck to Vanity Fair, March 1997

"As an actor, you want to do more than the job. You want to be good because you care about the work and you want to get other jobs." – Affleck to Chicago Tribune, Dec. 19, 1997

"All of a sudden, you're confronted with a roomful of people who've seen your movies. For me there isn't a roomful of people who've seen my movies in the world. The extent of my fame is limited to record-store clerks with nose rings and tattoos." – Affleck commenting on having a film play at the Sundance Film Festival to GQ, February 1998

"We got into this conversation on the set of 'Armageddon.' I asked everyone 'How much would you charge to give some guy a blow job? What's your price?' Their initial reaction is 'Oh no, no way!' Then after a while, it's like, 'Do I have to swallow?'

'We're talking a briefcase full of cash. So where do you draw your line? Would you do it for $12 million? F*ck, yes! You're kidding, I'd do it for less. And yet $12 million is probably what Keanu [Reeves] passed up to do 'Speed 2.' So people scoff at the roles actors take. But who am I to judge? I've just admitted I'll suck d*ck for cash in front of a roomful of people." – Affleck quoted in GQ, February 1998

"Ben's the real thing. He's got that square jaw, that real Americana look, without being pretty. Women want to be with him and men want to be like him, which is what movie stars are made of." – producer Jerry Bruckheimer to Details, July 1998

"Several things become apparent while spending a night drinking and gambling with Ben Affleck. The first is that he's more shrewd businessman than self-absorbed actor. He's a strategist who believes he's figured out a way to beat impossible odds. Whether he's playing blackjack, carving out a Hollywood career, or trying to ensure that a magazine cover story furthers his agenda, Affleck conveys a distinctly American optimism, a conviction that he will succeed by sheer force of his persistence, desire to win, and smarts. For an actor who is not a member of the Church of Scientology, he's strangely free of self-doubt." – from "Going All the Way" by Christine Spines in Premiere, August 1998

Despite making appearances during the 2000 U.S. Presidential campaign and the U.S. Senate campaign of Hilary Rodham Clinton, Affleck did not vote in the election as reported by the Internet site The Smoking Gun (www.thesmokinggun.com).

"My fantasy is that someday I'm independently wealthy enough that I'm not beholden to anybody, so I can run for Congress on the grounds that everyday people, be they singers or poets or bankers or lawyers or teachers, should be in government. The government shouldn't be controlled by a professional class of politicians." – Affleck quoted in GQ, May 2001

In early August 2001, Affleck voluntarily entered the Promises rehabilitation facility in Malibu for treatment of alcohol abuse.

"What's going to mean the most to me is being a father, being a husband, being a person of whom I can really be proud." – Affleck on marriage and family People, June 24, 2002

"We're on the same page because we share a lot of the same life experiences. It's nice to have someone who understands where you're coming from." – Affleck on Matt Damon to Biography, July 2002

"Ben's really loyal and really, really smart and really funny. He's got more going for him than just about anyone I've ever met." – Matt Damon quoted in People Dec. 2, 2002